Honolulu police are accusing two convicted felons of stealing copper wire from a series of light poles and darkening a stretch of H-2 Freeway near the Wai'anae off-ramp.

The arrest is the first in a series of often-brazen copper wire thefts that have left miles of O'ahu roadways in the dark in the past year.

Since May 2006, thieves have caused an estimated $320,000 in damage to freeways along the Central and West O'ahu corridor, ripping out copper wiring from about 100 light fixtures.

Last month, the Transportation Department filed three police reports of copper thefts, including a Jan. 30 report that thieves darkened a stretch of Nimitz and Kamehameha highways near the airport by stealing the copper wire that connects streetlights.

Officers on Saturday arrested Robert Lynn Bryan, 42, and Daniel Lee Seyler, 43, in the theft of 8,000 feet of copper wire that connected 11 light poles along H-2.

The key to the arrests, police said, was alert witnesses.

"It really helps when witnesses call (police) when they see something suspicious on the freeways or anywhere on the island," said Honolulu police Maj. Deborah Tandal. "It helps us out a lot."

Police are still investigating if the pair were involved in other copper thefts in the area.

In this case, witnesses Saturday gave police the license number of a van seen in the area where the thefts occurred. Detectives traced the van to a home on Waimano Home Road in Pearl City.

Officers with the District 3 Crime Reduction Unit searched the Pearl City home and the van and recovered about 200 feet of copper wire, police said.

Bryan and Seyler were arrested at 9 a.m.

They were charged with fourth-degree theft, a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Although police initially opened a felony theft case, they did not recover enough copper wire to support a felony charge.

The value of the copper wire lost and damage done is $24,000.

Bryan has 64 prior arrests and 10 total convictions and Seyler has 104 prior arrests and 45 total convictions.

Both have prior convictions for theft.

Police have made other arrests in connection with copper thefts, but this is the first involving theft of copper from freeway lights.

In November, a suspected copper thief was arrested in Hawai'i Kai near a chopped-down utility pole. He was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass for allegedly attempting to rip wiring from a transformer at the time of his arrest.

In July, a 29-year-old woman and 33-year-old man were arrested after they allegedly stole copper pipe from a chicken preparation plant on Kanakanui Street in Kalihi.

Since last spring, copper wire thieves have left several areas in the dark, primarily: